Optical fiber ribbon and method op manufacture

ABSTRACT

OPTICAL FIBER RIBBONS OF UNITARY AND SUBSTANTIALLY PLANAR CONSTRUCTION ARE PROVIDED WHEREIN A PLURALITY OF POLYMERIC OPTICAL FILAMENTS ARE ALIGNED AND ADHESIVELY SECURED IN SIDE-TO-SIDE RELATIONSHIP TO PROVIDE A NON-WOVEN RIBBON WHICH MAY BE FRUSTRATED AT ANY DESIRED OR SELECTED LOCATION ALONG ITS LENGTH TO PROVIDE LIGHT EMISSION THEREAT OF ANY LIGHT ADAPTED TO BE TRANSMITTED BY SAID OPTICAL FILAMENTS OF SAID RIBBON. AN ESPECIALLY USEFUL CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYING THE OPTICAL RIBBON COMPRISES SEVERAL LAYERS OF THE NON-WOVEN FIBER RIBBON SECURED TOGETHER BY ANY SUITABLE MEANS SUCH AS ADHESIVES TO PROVIDE A UNITARY IMAGE GUIDE STRUCTURE THE LAYERS OF THE IMAGE GUIDE NEED NOT BE SECURED TOGETHER ALONG THE ENTIRE LENGTH THEREOF, BUT CAN BE SECURED TOGETHER AT ONLY THE RESPECTIVE ENDS OF THE IMAGE GUIDE. IN ALL INSTANCES, HOWEVER, EACH OPTICAL RIBBON LAYER OF THE IMAGE GUIDE MUST BE SIMILARLY ALIGNED AT EACH END OF THE IMAGE GUIDE IN ORDER TO PROPERLY TRANSMIT AN IMAGE FROM ONE END OF THE IMAGE GUIDE TO THE OTHER.

DEFENSIVE PUBLICATION UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Published at therequest of the applicant or owner in accordance with the Notice of Dec.16, 1969, 869 0.G. 687. The abstracts of Defensive Publicationapplications are identified by distinctly numbered series and arearranged chronologically. The heading of each abstract indicates thenumber oi. pages or specification, including claims and sheets ofdrawings contained in the application as originally filed. The iilcs ofthese applications are available to the public'for inspection andreproduction may be purchased for 30 cents a sheet.

Defensive Publication applications have not been examined as to themerits of alleged invention. The Patent Ofllce makes no assertion as tothe novelty ot the disclosed subject matter;

PUBLISHED JULY 18, 1972 T900,002 OPTICAL FIBER RIBBON AND METHOD OFMANUFACTURE Jack Barnett Wielar II, Wilmington, Del., assignor to lg. duPont de Nemours and Company, Wilmington,

Filed Feb. 8, 1971, Ser. No. 113,563 Int. Cl. G02b 5/16 U.S. Cl. 350-96B 1 Sheet Drawing. 10 Pages Specification Optical fiber ribbons ofunitary and substantially planar construction are provided wherein aplurality of polymeric optical filaments are aligned and adhesivelysecured in side-toside relationship to provide a non-woven ribbon whichmay be frustrated at any desired or selected location along its lengthto provide light emission thereat of any light adapted to be transmittedby said optical filaments of said ribbon.

An especially useful construction employing the optical ribbon comprisesseveral layers of the non-woven fiber ribbon secured together by anysuitable means such as adhesives to provide a unitary image guidestructure. The layers of the image guide need not be secured togetheralong the entire length thereof, but can be secured together at only therespective ends of the image guide. In all instances, however, eachoptical ribbon layer of the image guide must be similarly aligned ateach end of the image guide in order to properly transmit an image fromone end of the image guide to the other.

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OPTICAL FIBER RIBBON AND METHOD OF MANUFACTURE Filed Feb. 8, 1971INVENTOR JACK BARNETT WIELAR 11' ATTORNEY

